Redemption
by CloudMercury
Summary: Castiel was banned by the angels from seeing Dean or Sam due to his 'unnatural' feelings for Dean. Now Dean has been injected with a strange substance by a Shape Shifter, will this be Castiel's chance at redemption without leaving Dean and Sam behind?
1. Chapter 1

"Dean, no!" Sam yelled in despair as he arrived on the scene a second too late. The Shape Shifter's eyes flashed sinisterly silver as it injected a murky pink liquid into the top of Dean's arm through a frighteningly long needle. Although Dean lay unconscious in the monster's lap, his expression was troubled. Seeing the syringe had momentarily stunned Sam, but then he jumped into action, slipped his silver knife expertly from his pocket and lunged forwards, stabbing the Shifter straight through the heart through its back with an audible grunt.

As blood soaked the Shifter's current form, Sam couldn't help but feel surprise mingle with his anger since the Shifter died smiling. However, he had no time to dwell on this due to the overwhelming need to get Dean to safety. He knelt, scooping up his older brother in his arms, yet he knew he couldn't, or rather shouldn't drive him for 30 miles back to the hotel they were staying at. Sam figured that whatever the Shifter had injected his brother with would probably kill him in that amount of time.

Desperate, Sam cursed under his breath before looking towards the grimy ceiling of the Shifter's hideout and yelling, "Castiel! I really need your help… _please_." He glanced around the room without any sighting of the angel and though Sam had mostly expected him _not _to answer, he still cursed again, this time louder, as he flipped open his mobile phone in the hopes of reaching Bobby.

"Sam, you shouldn't keep in the habit of using such foul language."

Sam whipped his head towards the voice and a shadowy figure stepped towards him. "Cas?" he asked, nervous that the man was a soldier of Raphael's. The dark-haired man pointed the silver knife warily towards the figure, despite the fact he knew it would have no effect on an angel.

"Yes, it's me."

Exhaling slightly with relief, Sam continued animatedly. "Cas, it's Dean, you have to heal him. The Shifter, it injected… something… into him, he could be dying." Castiel had reached the only dingy area of light that the room provided and Sam now realised his features were deep-set in inner turmoil.

"_Please _Cas. He'll _die._" Sam pleaded, gripping the limp form in his arms even tighter. The angel of the Lord's face softened by an almost indistinguishable amount, but this satisfied Sam's anxiety.

"Alright, but first I must move him." Castiel answered, walking towards the both of them and placing a hand on Sam's shoulder. With an uncomfortably bright flash of white followed by a nanosecond of whirring noise and colour, they arrived back at the hotel. Sam stood, carefully lifting Dean with him and placed his still unconscious brother the hotel bed he had called dibs on when they had arrived there just four days earlier.

Castiel stepped calmly towards him, though he still had a troubled expression and knelt beside the bed, placing two hands on Dean's chest. Light burst out under his hands, leaving no shadow. The angel's strikingly blue eyes closed and fluttered beneath their lids as if he were searching Dean's very soul.

After about twenty seven seconds, he stopped.

Castiel rose, looking less troubled than before but now extremely confused. "I cannot heal him." He announced, causing a torrent of abuse from Sam.

"What! What do you mean you can't heal him? What, h-have you run out of angel juice again? You wouldn't risk getting cut off from heaven for us, but now you are anyway?" He shrieked hurtfully. Castiel flinched at the latter question, but gave a simple reply.

"He hasn't been poisoned. I don't know what the Shape Shifter did." The angel's eyes avoided Sam's and instead glared intently at the carpet of the hotel room. "I can't help."

Sam threw his hands up in a desperate act of giving up hope. "So that's it, then? You're going to let Dean die? Come on, Cas, you used to actually _care _about what happened to us."

Castiel's voice sounded coarse and more emotionless than Sam had ever heard it sound before. "I am forbidden to help. You know this."

"But this, this isn't emotional attachment, this is saving a life. Dean's life. Will you really put your orders above that?"

After a moment more in which Castiel's face revealed immense struggling, his shoulders sagged as he gave into Team Free Will's favourite choice.

Sam nodded and put his hand onto Dean's forehead. "So, if it's not poison, what is it?" He turned away. "Maybe we should call Bobby" He suggested, reaching for his phone.

"No need." Castiel retorted, and Sam noticed the blood as soon as he had said it. He turned his hand over to find a bloody piece of Dean's skin attached to his palm.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh my…" Sam began, but then remembered he probably shouldn't blaspheme against Castiel's father when he was in the room. He rubbed the piece of skin off disgustedly and watched in shock as the whole of Dean's skin peeled off, leaving a bloody mess on the bed sheets.

"No, Dean you should not bleed on the hotel bed, the managers get angry when you don't have those little paper things to replace the sheets." Castiel commented, an innocent remark which was painfully out of place in the situation, but was amusing nonetheless.

"You mean money" Sam informed him. "I think we have bigger things to worry about." He pointed to the bed where a beautiful woman with long flowing mousy hair and shiny but otherwise unmarked skin lay unconscious.

Castiel cocked his head to one side in an adorable puppy fashion and pointed towards the creature. "That is Dean Winchester", he announced, as if Sam did not understand what had just happened. "How can this be? That woman's soul is the same as Dean's."

Sam's eyes were wide and he rubbed his forehead with two fingers in deep thought, tracing the lines his frown had set into it. "Yeah Cas, I think uh… I think Dean Shape shifted."

"Impossible, giving a human the abilities of a shape shifter would kill them immediately. Shape shifter DNA holds too many mutated genes, the human body would reject that amount of information and Dean would be dead." Castiel approached the unconscious form and gingerly placed two hands on her chest.

"Woah, what are you doing?" Sam demanded, hoping that there was a reason that an angel of the Lord was groping his brother's breasts. God it felt weird acknowledging that.

"I am going to have a deeper look into Dean's soul."

"Don't you think we should make him… her… decent first?"

"Decent?"

"Yeah, give her some clothes."

"Oh… is this not acceptable?"

"Not unless you want Dean to call the cops on you if he wakes up."

Castiel didn't understand since Dean had let him carry out a 'cavity search' without wearing a shirt before, but he complied with Sam's wishes and helped the younger Winchester wrap a towel around the female Dean's body. He then proceeded with his search of Dean's soul while the woman groaned in pain.

Unfortunately, they had not accounted for the fact that the pain might wake Dean up. His eyes were still blue, but were more languid and did not have the same mischievous spark. He noticed Castiel standing over him and opened his mouth to complain about the cavity search and then ask what in the hell the angel was doing back there after all the desperate times he had called for him and he had not answered. However, cruelty had other plans and as he opened his mouth, his old set of teeth tumbled out, causing him to almost literally choke on his words.

"Dean?" Sam asked as his brother's coughing slowed down.

"What in the he-" Dean stopped at the sound of his own voice, or at least the lack of his own voice. Terrified, he turned towards Sam. "Sammy… why do I sound like a woman?"

Sam's mouth opened and closed like a fish drowning in air.

"It was the shape shifter you were hunting. It injected you with its own DNA." Castiel explained, rolling the baggy sleeves of his trench coat back over his tanned arms.

Sam cleared his throat "I thought you said that would kill Dean."

"It would," Castiel noted "But Dean was not injected with full DNA. The Shape shifter somehow managed to only extract and inject into Dean the part which allows them to switch between genders."

Dean shot up as fast as lightning in the bed. "You mean I'm a chick!"

"That is not acceptable" Castiel said, pointing to the fact that Dean's towel had slipped down in his eagerness for answers.

Sam stifled a snigger "I wonder what Bobby will make of this" he asked aloud, getting out his phone and dialling before it was knocked out of his hand by Dean rushing towards him.

"No one else is going to know I'm a chick." Dean asserted before checking himself out in the mirror "Even if I am a hot chick." He shook his head like a dog shaking off water, and then rolled his eyes "Didn't anyone think to dress me? Jeez." He skulked off to his suitcase to pick out some clothes after telling both Sam and Castiel to "quit perving" while he got changed, leaving Sam and Castiel to wonder what on earth they were going to do to reverse the damage.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam and Castiel had come to the mutual agreement that they should try and track down some more Shape shifters and try and force some information out of them as to how they could make Dean male again. Dean was not overly eager to come into contact with shape shifters again, but he did want to return to normal, so begrudgingly agreed to help.

Two days after Dean had awoken female, Sam was conducting research on his laptop in the living room section of a rather fancy hotel they had managed to afford using a few poker game winnings. Castiel had insisted that they keep moving, in case anything was tracking them. They would later discover that this was perhaps the best idea that the angel of the Lord had ever had.

The eldest Winchester was becoming irritable and impatient in the bedroom, with very little to do since his brother had announced he should be on lockdown, moaning about how "weird it feels to pee like a chick", but that having certain parts of the female anatomy had proven to be very interesting. Castiel did not understand this, but he assumed that it had some sort of perverted connotation. After about forty-five minutes of non-stop complaining, Dean had uncomfortably turned his conversation to a more personal level.

As he (or she) looked Castiel up and down, the conversation began "Don't 'cha want to sit, Cas?"

"No," Castiel replied "I am used to standing for long periods of time".

Dean's slender female shoulders shrugged sluggishly. "Suit yourself… you know, Cas, I've been wondering, how comes you're back?"

Castiel swallowed hard. He had been expecting this conversation.

"Sam prayed for me and I answered", He felt the honest approach was the best way to tackle this.

Dean suddenly shoved a pointed finger towards the ceiling "You're telling me you were up there the whole time, while Sam almost died, while Bobby almost died and when you could have saved Lisa?" He shook his head in contempt. "Why did you only answer now, Cas?"

"Your life might have been in danger."

"You haven't given a rats _ass_ about me since you went MIA after heaven's civil war. For all I knew, you could have been killed and…" Dean's voice trailed off, and Castiel could clearly distinguish that the urge not to cry was pulsating throughout the man's whole being.

"I wasn't killed." Castiel offered.

"No, but I didn't know that. What if you were dead and I didn't help protect you, like I couldn't protect Lisa? What if Sammy was dead, and you didn't help protect _him_?" By this point, the struggle was over and tears were rolling down Dean's cheeks. "Damn, being a chick really makes you cry a whole lot easier." He cursed and wiped the tears off with the back of his hand.

"It's the pheromones." Castiel said, avoiding the woman's watery blue stare. "I had to stop being your guardian. I was made to. Sam understands, why can't you?"

Dean's petite jaw snapped shut and he stormed into the living room area. "Sam, is it true, you know why Cas has been in heaven all this time?"

"Uh… yeah" Sam replied, ducking his head as low as possible behind the screen of his laptop so he could avoid the female's furious glare. "I think I'll let him explain it, though."

Castiel had followed behind Dean and was now yet again being angrily addressed. He took a deep sigh, filling his vessel's lungs with air. Though he did not need oxygen, this action was relaxing and he often found it useful for when he felt he might experience strong emotion. It pushed everything out, letting only the calm, rational Castiel take charge.

"My army, they were becoming concerned that I was not strong enough to be the leader of heaven. I tried to persuade them that they should no longer follow me, after the civil war was won, but they will not listen to reason about free-will. They still believe that my father resurrected me to be our leader, but that if I let my emotions or free-will run their heaven, they would kill me and let Raphael recommence the apocalypse." Castiel ruffled the back of his scruffy black hair. "To prove myself, they made me prove that I no longer consider myself emotionally attached to you. I had to show them by leaving you to your own devices, even though I still consider myself the Winchester guardian." He played with a loose string on the end of the sleeve of his trench coat.

It seemed as though Dean didn't quite know how to react. He had a million and one questions to ask and no way to word one.

Sam piped up from behind his laptop, upon noticing the discomfort in Castiel's stance "It _was_ us that taught Cas to embrace free-will, so naturally the angels wouldn't want him mingling with us".

Castiel nodded, it wasn't a lie. Perhaps it wasn't the whole truth, but it was definitely not a lie. He shot Sam a quick glance of gratitude. "I couldn't let the apocalypse happen, not after what you had to go through, losing your brother to stop it. So I did what they asked."

"Besides, I think I found a lead on where we can find some Shifters." Sam noted, but the conversation was cut short when the door crashed to the ground suddenly and five members of staff from the hotel, including a cute waitress Dean had been eyeing up earlier, ran in, their eyes pure charcoal. Demons.


	4. Chapter 4

There was little time to wonder why demons had entered the room while Castiel was present, since he had one overwhelming agenda on his mind: Protect the Winchesters. He was… yes, pleased to be there. The angel was there to help this time and it was satisfying. Cas' form seemingly disintegrated and then was re-built in the next moment in front of the nearest demon with a flap of wings, forcing his palm against the unfamiliar man's forehead and pushing the demon out with all his holy might.

As Sam watched the orifices of the man's face burst with purifying light, he felt a soft push at his middle and then was promptly thrust through the air, slamming against the hotel wall and making the entire room shudder, as big as he was. He panicked and writhed against the force but it would not shift.

The demon holding Sam up was the cute waitress, with murder flaming in her abyssal eyes. Dean's gut wrenched with an inner emotional turmoil at the sight of his brother in pain and he sprinted towards her, arm outstretched to tackle her to the ground as an invisible knife cut across Sam's left cheek. Sam was groaning through gritted teeth, defying the stinging sensation as much as he could.

In some ways, Dean's tackle was successful. It certainly stopped the demon from carving into his little brother, but the spawn of Satan had managed to brace herself against it, meaning that she was only buffeted slightly to the left. Frustrated, Dean swung a punch but it barely connected and, if truth be told, stung his knuckles a little. He also thought he broke a nail.

The Winchester's new female form was nowhere near as athletically built or as muscular as his male form and so his usual brute strength was now a pretty useless tactic. The demon threw Dean onto the ground as if he was nothing and stood over him, one arm still stretching out towards Sam so that he was immobile. The bitch sneered. She actually fucking sneered.

"Shifters did a number on you… at least we know we can rely on those abominations to get rid of… lesser abominations for us." She spat at the ground next to Dean's head.

Dean tried to bark his response, but his female vocal range rendered it into more of a screech "So that's it, demons working with monsters. That's a new low, even for a bitch like you."

The demon's face wrinkled up. Obviously she was more hot-tempered than some of the demons they had come across before. She raised a hand and clenched it in front of her. Dean's gut began writhing in pain and he clawed desperately at his stomach, as though his hands alone would protect it. Then of course, Castiel was there, between her and Dean, fury written all across his features.

"You were foolish to believe that you could harm Sam and Dean with an angel present," he advised her, as if she would learn her lesson for next time, whereas in reality, she would never see a "next time".

Without any kind of warning, Dean picked himself up with considerable agility and charged at Castiel, his second try at a tackle. Sam called out in shock as Castiel tumbled to the floor, landing in a rather compromising position, with Dean's curvy legs straddling over his thighs. The calm, collected angel of the Lord actually _blushed. _Dean didn't think much of it, since he'd witnessed what Castiel had acted like when he'd taken him for some female intimacy before the end-of-the-world at that stripper joint. Sam, however, knew the reason behind his awkward expression as Dean huffily explained that they should question the demon instead of killing it without answers, before climbing off him.

The demon, in complete confusion and thinking that Dean had turned against his own, had stood there boasting merrily while the angel was knocked to the floor, not listening to anything past the sound of her gloating voice. When Castiel's hand was reapplied to her forehead and she was rather rudely (in her own opinion) tied up and placed in a demon trap, however, her mouth miraculously remained closed.

Sam was now self-treating his wound since Castiel was playing the part of the interrogator that evening. He was used to this procedure, having encountered more than cuts and scrapes while hunting in the past, so he had no problems with the fact that Castiel was a little too preoccupied to help this time.

He absent-mindedly listened to Dean's intense questioning and saw small bursts of light accompanied with the demon's screams and hasty willingness to answer anything the pair wanted to know. It had taken Sam some adjusting to the idea that angels would so readily murder and torture to achieve an end. It had taken him maybe even longer to adjust to the fact that angels could fall in love, especially with humans. Yet, in the next room was living proof of it.

The younger Winchester wasn't certain exactly when he had come to understand that Castiel was in love with his brother, just that it had come to be one of those passive facts in his life, such as that strawberries tasted good and that you could scare ghosts away using rock salt bullets. It had been glaringly obvious on many occasions too and Sam had often been amused by the fact that Dean's thick skull and carefully placed stony emotions had blinded him to this. The natures of Dean's emotions were also the very reason why it had taken Sam so long to realise that Dean returned Castiel's love, but he'd figured it out.

Sam did remember the exact moment when he had understood Dean's emotions for the angel of the Lord. It was the end of the world and Lucifer and Michael were about to wreak all havoc through the apocalypse. Sam had just announced his plan to say yes to being Lucifer's vessel in order to force him into his own cage in the pits of hell. Dean was extremely distraught, of course, but had agreed to let Sammy be a man and make his own decision.

It was the night that Sam had made his older brother promise to try and live a normal life while he was locked away in the cage. He'd suggested that Dean live with Lisa Braeden, someone he knew Dean held very dear and could live a normal life with.

"Lisa and Ben?" Dean had asked in response, which immediately perplexed Sam since his tone was fairly disapproving.

"Yeah, I mean, you could have a normal life and have a family."

"Oh and forget all about my real family, you and Bobby and Cas? I'm going to do everything to spring you, Sammy. I don't care how long it takes, I'm going to find a way." He had tapped on the steering wheel of the Impala to finalise his word even more.

"No Dean, you're going to forget all of this and you're going to live as normal a life as possible. Promise me".

"No, Sam. How can I forget everything? There will still be freaking angels walking the earth and you want me to pretend that everything is absolutely normal, that monsters don't exist?"

"You don't have to be the one to fight them. You've done more than enough. You could escape angels, demons… everything."

"I don't want to escape everything." Dean let slip in an angry burst of truth. Might as well elaborate. "I want… I need Cas around, when you're gone, I mean. He's all that I got to hang on to. I couldn't make Bobby come hunting with me, he needs his rest. He's getting old." Dean gave a half-hearted grin.

That little sentence had told Sam Winchester absolutely everything. His brother never ever _ever_ admitted to needing anyone, let alone _wanting _them. This was when Sam knew that Dean's feelings for the angel stretched far beyond family. He'd never admitted that, of course, but Sam knew.

Yet of course, when Sam had thrown himself into the cage, Castiel abandoned Dean too. As much as the angel did not want to leave and felt that he could have enjoyed some time with Dean alone, he understood that it probably would be best for Dean to reside with Lisa and spend time in a calm surrounding. Then there was, of course, the pressing matter of heaven being under threat of chaos.

He had returned, for a short while, after Sam had come back, but swiftly left again and Sam could hear Dean praying to him more and more often in his absence, though whether it was because Dean missed the angel or that events were becoming increasingly dire without the aid of heaven, he wasn't sure.

Splashing his face with some freezing cold water from the tap bought Sam's thoughts back to the present day. Castiel was back and only because Dean was in danger. That much was obvious. It was damn about time that Dean and Castiel either admitted their feelings, even if to themselves, or gave up on each other completely. Watching the two of them angst and frustrate over each other was terribly gut-wrenching and something had to be done.

Then it hit Sam.

Dean was female and they didn't know if he would ever return to being male. He certainly couldn't continue hunting for a long time, not until he could get his new form to adjust to holding and firing guns, tone up the muscles and generally familiarise himself to hunting as a female. That could take years. So here was Dean's opportunity to get out of it all.

It was no secret that Dean wished he could have had a normal life since he was very small. The only thing that kept him hunting was that it kept other people safe and that it kept him close to his brother, but this way Sam could still be close to Dean and Sam would keep the people safe while Dean spent the rest of his life earning a well-deserved rest, to say the least.

Sam knew what he was going to suggest to Dean before the whole idea properly formulated in his mind. He just had to bring the pieces together.

It was simple; Dean could remain a woman and could have her own family. That way Dean wouldn't be so inclined to side-line it in order to hunt demons. Since Dean would be a sitting duck for any demonic forces that wanted to get revenge for some past hunting he and Sam may or may not have had a part in, Castiel could hang around as their protector. If Cas was not going to hang around, which could prove a huge hindrance to his plan, Sam would always be there on call to aid in any exorcisms. He hoped Castiel would stick around this time, though, since if he disappeared again, he didn't know what it would do to his brother.

Therefore, he silently vowed to himself to suggest this to his brother later, when Castiel was a little out of earshot. It was a long shot to imagine that Dean would warm to it straight away, but with the promise of Castiel being there always, he might just bite.

Sam's idea was interrupted by a ear-piercing scream and a curse, louder than the previous ones. An almighty eruption of light burst through the crack under the bathroom door and stunned the younger Winchester as a flash from a camera would. He hastily opened the door to find the girl slumped in the chair, with no demon left inside. Castiel was standing intimidatingly over her still, breathing heavily with his shoulders heaving.

Dean was standing slightly behind the angel, looking fairly confused but satisfied.

"What happened? Did she tell you anything?" Sam asked, approaching the pair slowly.

"Yes." Castiel said, apparently calming down a lot faster than any human would. "The location you identified as to the Shape shifter's whereabouts was confirmed."

"Oh, well that's great." Sam said, not yet wanting to reveal his suggestion that Dean remain a woman.

"The demon also told us that the demons and the shape shifters have formed some sort of alliance. They are planning something." Castiel added, and Sam noticed that he would not look over at Dean, yet Dean was staring intently at him, with an inquisitive gaze.

"It's definitely somethin' to do with me being a chick. We just don't know what they want beyond that." Dean concluded.

"She would give us no more information, so I felt it was appropriate to exorcise the demon."

"Hear that, Sammy? Felt! Castiel felt something! Crazy or what?" Dean said, pointing at the angel and shrugging her slender shoulders. "And you should have heard what the demon said right before he jumped into action and exorcised the bitch."

Castiel opened his mouth to object, but Dean's mouth carried on like a steam train. "She said 'I know what you feel Castiel, all the demons are laughing at you. You are weak because you feel strong affection for dirty, pitiful …' and then Cas here just went right ahead and killed her. But hey, what was that about Cas? You actually feel, now?" Dean gave a small and sarcastic chuckle "Who is dirty and pitiful? It sure isn't us or else you would've come back and helped us when we asked."

Sam couldn't help but note that there was some heartbreak in Dean's revelation that Castiel was in love with someone, or at least had strong affection for them. Sam rolled his eyes at the fact that Dean still hadn't gathered that this person _was_ him.

Castiel bent his head low and shook it. They heard the familiar swoosh of Castiel opening his wings to fly away, but then another, completely unfamiliar sound when he closed them again. No, he wasn't going to run away this time. He was going to stand his ground and protect them.

"I am here now." Castiel said simply. "I am going to stay."

Sam had all he needed to confirm that his plan for Dean to remain a woman under Castiel's guardianship was one worth putting out there.


	5. Chapter 5

Castiel had wisely suggested that they move to another hotel so that the Winchesters could sleep before they pursued the Shape shifter's location in the morning. This one was the seedy kind that no one but criminals slept in, for fear of being robbed… or worse. The angel sat on a hard chair, watching the boys as the small clock on the wall ticked past 1am. Dean began to snore softly, his female chest rising and falling gently.

Sam, however, lay wide awake, staring at the ceiling. For one, he found the idea that Castiel was watching them kind of creepy. Secondly, he was thinking about his plan to ask Dean if he would consider remaining a woman so that he could quit 'the family business' and settle down under Castiel's careful guard. He'd forgotten a vital point in his eagerness to allow Dean a peaceful life. The angels. The angels wouldn't let Castiel have free-will, they would cause mayhem if he tried to stay with Dean. Sam would have to consult Castiel about his plan.

As though the angel could hear Sam's thoughts, he spoke up softly from where he was seated in the darkness.

"Sam, you are not asleep."

"I know" Sam replied, propping himself up on his elbows in the bed. "Is Dean?"

Castiel was silent for a moment. He checked the aura of Dean's soul.

"Yes, Dean is asleep. Why?"

"I need to talk to you about her." Sam chose female pronouns to make his plan sound more natural. He supposed they may as well get used to them, in case Dean chose to remain a woman.

"Her?" Castiel asked.

"I've just been thinking ,Cas… if we didn't change Dean back… she'd be able to live a normal life," Sam licked his drying lips "I mean, if she wanted to stay as a woman and stop hunting, would you be able to… would you want to protect her?"

Castiel started. "You are suggesting we leave Dean like this?"

"Well what if we _can't _change her back? Would you be able to protect her then?"

"The angels would not allow-

"But they might. Wasn't part of their argument that Dean was a man? Would they let the free-will thing go if you're no longer going against "God's will" by protecting her as a woman? You're here now and they haven't done anything." Sam was trying to use logic to persuade the angel.

Castiel's blue gaze dropped to the floor. He had only told Dean part of the reason why he had been restrained in heaven and had not been able to come to the Winchester's aid. The angels had said that free-will would be a problem for Castiel's leading of heaven, but that it was specifically his emotions for Dean and especially because Dean was a man and that this was going against the Bible. Castiel didn't think his father would actually care, but the angels threatened to restart the apocalypse and Castiel couldn't let that happen. He had, of course, considered occupying a female vessel himself but had decided strongly against it. Jimmy Novak would die if he left his vessel now and he had proven to be a very powerful vessel. Castiel would feel too much… the human's expression was _guilt._

Would Castiel be alright with Dean remaining a woman, though? He had fallen in love with Dean as a man, after all. Although it was still Dean and Castiel still felt the exact same way about him as a woman, there was something wrong. The woman part was down to shape shifter DNA, something that was forced upon Dean. Castiel didn't think Dean would particularly like the idea of remaining a woman, either. He could already tell Dean was becoming frustrated with being in a different body, despite the amount of times he mentioned how fun things under his trousers now were. Could Castiel be truly happy with protecting a Dean who wasn't happy with himself? It seemed wrong. However, this woman was still Dean, no matter how Castiel looked at it. Would his personality stay the same in this form, though? He decided to let Sam ask Dean about the whole plan and determine his own answer to whether he would protect him based on whether Dean _wanted _Cas to do so.

By the time Cas had told Sam this, Sam's eyes were becoming heavy and he soon drifted into a dream-filled sleep.


End file.
